Ski lift fault traps skiers in gondolas

Ski lift fault traps skiers in gondolas

Wednesday 13 January 2010 07.21 EST
First published on Wednesday 13 January 2010 07.21 EST

A police helicopter flies over the gondola lift at Brauneck in Lenggries, Germany. Photograph: Peter Gutman/EPA

Skiers had to be airlifted to safety yesterday, after a broken-down ski lift trapped 43 passengers in gondolas for several hours at a southern German resort.

A technical failure in the lift system at the alpine Brauneck resort in Bavaria triggered the automatic shutdown of the whole system, leaving skiers hanging up to 70 metres above the ground in 30 four-person gondolas. The rescue operation took almost three hours.

About 100 firefighters and mountain rescue specialists helped to lower many of the trapped skiers to safety, while others had to be rescued by helicopter, said police spokesman Harald Bauer.

None of the skiers were injured, despite below-freezing temperatures. The resort is about 60km (40 miles) south of Munich.

"I was stuck up there for two and a half hours until the helicopter came to rescue me," skier Peter Gutmann told Associated Press.

He said he was trapped alone in a gondola dangling more than 50ft (15m) above the ground.